These days, people favor speed and efficiency over time-consuming and lengthy meetings. The days when people would congregate in a boardroom for hours are over.

Instead, we use videoconferencing, text and e-mail as a quicker and more effective way of getting our points across. We save time, money and effort by using these new methods for meetings.

How is this affecting our way of life?

When Amazon.com first launched, people shied away from purchasing books online.

We didn’t like the idea of buying a novel without picking it up, reading the back and responding to the image on the cover.

As time has gone by, we’ve become more comfortable with online shopping.

Sites such as Ebay let us get our hands on things which we may not find in our local shops, meaning we can sit in alone and buy things, relying on the post to deliver our goods instead of getting out there and choosing things for ourselves, in person.

Online shopping is another great example of how we’re switching to a digital age.

Now, we can browse for our fruit and vegetables without leaving the comfort of our own homes, and sites such as Tesco and Asda let us do our weekly shop without stepping foot outside.

Services like this, all done over the web, have transformed the way we run our homes and businesses.

Run out of printer ink?

Buy it from Ebay.

Need some dog food?

Get it from Tesco and they’ll deliver it the next day.

People with little time and lots of money can run their businesses and households online, without ever stepping foot outside their front door.

What we gain in convenience, we seem to be missing when it comes to social interaction.

There are a hundred films out there that show people meeting in chance encounters at grocery stores or cafes, and one thing leads to another.

In this age where we can sit in our front rooms and run our lives from the comfort of our sofa, we are missing out on some of the fundamental elements of what it means to be human.

If we continue to run our lives through the World Wide Web, will we lose our powers to make friends, interact face to face, or bump in to people in the street?

With all the ingenuity of the internet, we have to make sure we hang on to some of what is important to us as people.

We need to get out there and be a part of our community, and get back some of the social interaction that we risk losing through our online connections.

Striking a happy medium

Working from home has so many benefits. It gives us the power to run our businesses as we want to, and make a success of ourselves, without answering to other people.

In the same way, we have a responsibility to ourselves to maintain the important things in life – the friends we meet for coffee, the random encounter in the grocery store, and the pleasure of picking up a novel, reading the back of it and deciding to buy it.

Technology has provided electronic ways of communication so instead of meeting we can drop an email or a message to the desired person. But one thing i really appreciate is how balanced and magical universe we have given by the GOD. I mean whatever be the way of communication be, we still able to connect ourselves from the far end clients as if we were face to face yesterday, that’s the magic. Take an example of your clients, they are far away yet also they are emotionally connected with you as if you meet them daily and giving tips. .-= Vipin@Romantic SMS´s last blog ..Romantic SMS 29-6-2010 =-.

Yes the internet is cleaning our clocks about being really social. That is why I love to go to MeetUps. This is another digital format where web people actually get together and meet face to face all over the world. One such site where we can accomplish this is called Meetup.com.

Even though we live in a digital world now, there is a necessity for human interaction. Youtube has meetups and in America we have South East by South West Events. The people that we email everyday or watch on video conferences are now more real to us. Its an awesome new age of hang out! I love it.

Just when human interaction seemed to be dying out. Here we go. 🙂 .-= Gerlaine Talk´s last blog ..After Show Notes The First Radio Show =-.

I dont think internet have make us less sociable, but make us more sociable in the sense that, if we can not go out to meet friends and love one, we can just login to skype or other chatting site for video chat and communicate face to face.

when I was still in college, I never did enjoy staying at home. I always play around all day and drinking booze all night with friends, even on weekends and holidays, no exception. until I started to work as a freelance writer and SEO specialist, then it changed my lifestyle. now, i can only spend time with friends every saturdays, and the rest of my time are spent on work and family. though at this point of my life, I can really tell that I’m contented. I constantly learn a lot of things and skills online and my days speak for itself, very productive. And I guess I’ll just balance my work and social life once I’ve achieved my goals for this year 🙂

And thanks to facebook, I can still get updated with what’s happening with my friends, so we’re not entirely doomed, socially speaking 🙂

I think Internet has increased the sociability of people.That’s is one reason there is the increase in the number of Social networking sites.Besides Internet has ripped apart the Global barrier.Now I can make friends with people who are sitting miles away from my location.

I haven’t shopped in a store since I got online, but I’d rather play poker live. lol

Seriously though, it does have great advantages. I’ve never been more grateful for the internet style then in the past couple-few years of being at least partially disabled with injuries. 🙂 .-= Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..UPDATES- =-.

In some ways technology has made us more social, but connecting us to alot more people. However, there is nothing yet that can replace a face to face conversation, and it’s important to take time to connect on this level with people.

I personally don’t think this argument holds much weight. I tend to believe that the internet stimulates social activity. Just look at the number of people on Myspace, facebook, twitter….you name it. If there’s any activity that’s not conducive to social activity, it’s watching television. You even get some degree of social interaction playing video games these days, especially with services like XBOX live. .-= James@Nail Polish Rack´s last blog ..Where to Buy Nail Polish Display Rack =-.

True, you aren’t going to meet with everyone, but for key people it can definitely strengthen the relationship. There’s a saying somewhere that says you don’t really know a man until you’ve shared a meal with him.

Good post, Andrew! I think the internet has indeed connected the dots from the past to the present. Long lost friendships and connections from yester-years are easier to be found through social media and this is why most people who wants to keep in touch with old acquaintances join Facebook.

The only disadvantage is that with much easier access to almost anything, people lose sight of face-to-face communication and just settle electronically. This in some way hinders people from getting a deeper understanding of human behavior and interaction that is better felt in real life than online. .-= Amanda from Unemployment Office´s last blog ..10 Practical Ways to Empower Yourself during Unemployment =-.

Thanks for sharing this. I somewhat disagree with some people saying that it takes away their social life. Internet is the bridge to connect with people. Before the internet, we socialize in person only, but now we can socialize, meet other people at home using internet.

I am not sure whether to thank you for a great insight, or to just point out you are simply addressing an issue which is totally obvious. I think the latter is more correct, but talking or writing about it is certainly worth it. Your story quickly describes the strange situation we are getting into, and I must say that I kind of like it, and probably way too much. I do realizer that, and I try to actively stay in contact with my friends and clients and meet them in person as much as possible. And really, there’s nothing like it, when you actually see and meet someone in person, it is such a great experience, it stays with me for days. And that’s just my experience, what about theirs? They too feel good about it, or in some cases they may not, but the point is; we certainly need to meet and see other people on a regular basis. If that particular fact is somehow eluding you, then I am thinking that it probably has nothing to do with internet. that’s just your choice, you rather not meet other people, for some reason.

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